Hydrography

The Danube and its Tributaries

The whole of the Carpathian Basin, including Forest in Germany to the edge of the Carpathian
Hungary belongs to the catchment area of the Basin it has an upper stream character with a
Danube (817,800 km²). The river extends over channel gradient of 45–50 cm/km. After having
17 countries and has a total length of 2,860 km, flown into the basin (and Hungary), its gradient
of which 410 km lie in Hungary (Figure 34). The drops abruptly within some kilometres to 30–35
water regime of the Danube is mainly governed cm/km. As a result, the load transported in the
by snowmelt and glacial melting in the Alps, the main channel is deposited, forming a typical
consequence of which is that low water phases Pleistocene-Holocene alluvial debris fan with
accompany snow accumulation in the winter, bars and islets. After leaving the alluvial fan
whilst high water levels and floods are confined (from the confluence with the Rába) the Danube
to the late spring and early summer. The mini- proceeds in a channel with a very low gradient
mum and maximum discharges at Budapest are (8–10 cm/km). Subsequently it turns from flow-
between 600 m3/sec and 10,500 m3/sec and the ing in a west–east direction, into a north–south
annual fluctuation in the water level can reach direction at the Danube Bend, by which time the
8 metres. Mean discharge (1,000–1,500 m3/s) oc- isles are already stabilised but the main channel
curs most frequently during the critical agricul- still shows a tendency to form bars.
tural growing season, whilst in the eastern part Arriving in the Carpathian Basin (from
of the Carpathian Basin semi-desert weather Bratislava/Pozsony) the Danube divides into
conditions may prevail. three big branches and forms two large islands
The Danube is the longest river of the (Szigetköz and Žitný ostrov/Csallóköz). Later,
European Union; from its source in the Black it absorbs the waters from the catchments of

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the tributaries: Váh (Vág), Nitra (Nyitra), Hron The Dráva (Drau), a border river between
(Garam), and Ipoly (Ipeľ), nevertheless they Hungary and Croatia with a catchment basin of
hardly affect the Danube’s discharge rates. The 40,497 km² and a length of 749 km, is the only
Rába (Raab) river-system carries the waters of right-bank tributary of the Danube in Hungary
the Alpine, north-west Transdanubian region with a significant water discharge.
into the Danube.

The Tisza and its Tributaries

The entire watershed of the Tisza (157,135 km2) to inundate 1,963,770 ha of the Alföld. As a
– the largest left-bank tributary of the Danube result of the regulation and control measures
– is to be found within the Carpathian Basin (1846–1880) the length of the river between
(Figure 35). The Tisza rises from the Marmarosh Tiszabecs and Titel decreased from 1419 to 966
Mountains (Ukrainian Carpathians) and flows km, forming 589 km of ‘dead arms’, oxbow lakes
after 1,260 km into the Danube at Titel (Serbia). and newly cut riverbeds of 136 km.
From the point where the main branch of the The Tisza floods with a frequency of 57.9%
Tisza reaches the Alföld (Great Hungarian Plain) and experiences two peaks of high stages: one
5–6 cm/km maximum gradients prevail, and in early spring and another in early summer.
along the lower stretches of the river they are Floods last for 5–20 days in the upper reaches,
reduced to 2–3 cm/km. Therefore, the river me- whereas in the Lower Tisza valley the travel
anders lazily, forming sinuous loops, fens and time can be 20–200 days. The river has a highly
oxbow lakes. The Tisza often changed course fluctuating water regime where the difference
prior to its regulation, and frequent floods used between the low and high water discharge, e.g.

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at Szolnok, could be 63-fold (60 and 3,800 m3/ the rivers Szamos (Someş) and Kraszna (Crasna)
sec, respectively). join the Tisza, which drain the northern part of
This phenomenon is due to the major the Transylvanian Basin. The Körösök mainly
tributaries of the river. On the right-bank in collects the waters of the Fehér-Körös (Crişul
Hungary, the Bodrog formed by the confluence Alb), Fekete-Körös (Crişul Negru), Sebes-Körös
of five rivers joins the Tisza at Tokaj. Arriving (Crişul Repede) and Berettyó (Barcău) from a
from the Slovakian Ore Mountains, the Sajó total catchment area of 27,537 km2. The Tisza’s
(Slaná) collects the waters of the rivers Bódva largest tributary is the Maros (Mureş) at 761
and Hernád (Hornád) before its confluence with km, which drains waters mainly from South
the Tisza. Downstream the other right-bank trib- Transylvania and reaches the Tisza near Szeged
utaries are of little importance as sources of wa- following a short section in Hungary.
ter supply. On the left bank at Vásárosnamény,

Flood Control, River Regulation and Water Management

Following the Ottoman occupation, during the lowing the two world wars drew the Hungarian
18th century a reactivation of the drainage net- state borders along the rim of the basin and
work started, together with the instigation of most of the Danube’s catchment area became
water regulation measures and development subdivided between the successor states of the
of the flood control system. Peace treaties fol- Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. As a result most

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of the active drainage area came to be located To mitigate the extreme flood hazard,
beyond the national borders, to such an extent drainage regulation measures and the construc-
that at present virtually no runoff is formed on tion of flood control embankments started near-
the territory of Hungary. ly 200 years ago and their alteration – amongst
The whole drainage network of contem- others, the establishment of detention reservoirs
porary Hungary is incorporated into that of the – has been continuous ever since. With the reg-
Carpathian Basin. 95% of the long-term dis- ulation of the Danube, its Hungarian section
charge of the largest rivers leaving the country has shortened by nearly 100 km. The length of
across the southern border, arrives from abroad, the Tisza channel on the present-day territory
merely flowing through the country, and barely of Hungary has been reduced from 1,213 km
5% is formed on its territory. Although the Tisza to 759 km. All these have resulted in increas-
catchment represents ca half of the country’s ter- ing flood subsidence (especially on the Upper
ritory, the river provides for a mere 20–25% of Tisza), however, it may also result in grave situ-
the total discharge leaving Hungary, whereas ations developing on the Lower Tisza, depend-
75–80% is transported by the Danube and Drava ent on the coincidence of, or difference between
rivers (Figure 36). high water stages of the tributaries. Hungary is
14 Hungarian rivers that are critical for among the countries in Europe most severely
water management have their catchment area endangered by floods.
providing abundant runoff outside of the coun- A frequent occurrence is that high stages
try, and only 4 minor watercourses rise within on the tributaries of the Tisza delay or dam up
the territory and do not leave its borders. Rivers the flood waves, thus lengthening their travel
entering Hungary have high channel slope gra- time and raising the height of the flood level.
dients, which serves as a source of considerable In extraordinary cases, a simultaneous high
flood hazard. Flood plains extend over 23,800 water stage on the Danube might dam water
km2 protected by levees of 4,220 km in length in the Tisza channel up to the confluence of the
(Figure 37). The regime of rivers flowing into the Maros and, though very rarely, up to that of the
plains shows extreme values. The upper reaches Körösök.
of tributaries are particularly wild; especially In order to drain waterlogged areas and
dangerous are those of the Upper Tisza and of those with excess water in springtime, drain-
the Körösök (the latter empties into the Lower age canals were built in the terrain beyond the
Tisza) where the water level might rise 8–10 protected areas, with a length of 42,493 km, pri-
m within 20–30 hours following intense rain- marily in the Tisza catchment area.
fall. Hungary occupies a prominent position in Water management difficulties are nu-
European comparison with regards to the exten- merous, such as those stemming from a hydro-
sion of its land protected from floods, and con- graphic network that is divided between two
nected flood control structures (Figure 38). catchments; the task of draining floods on the
Tisza; and difficulties caused by
a deficit of moisture over wide
areas during the growing sea-
son. Difficulties are potentially
further aggravated by disastrous
water pollution events. All the
subsurface waters of the Eastern
Alps and Carpathian Basin flow
through the country, floods (and
pollution) travel on its major riv-
ers, but low stages also occur dur-
ing arid periods.
To reduce the impact of
extremities and other problems,
barrages were constructed in the
Tisza catchment at Tiszalök (1954)
and Kisköre (1973). The former di-

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rects water to a 108 km long channel, the East area of 127 km2. Besides ensuring the irrigation
Main Canal (carrying 80 m3/s) to the lands situ- of 350,000 ha in the Middle Tisza, the Kisköre
ated north of the Körösök river suffering from reservoir (also known as ‘Lake Tisza’) has be-
frequent summer droughts, and provides wa- come one of the country’s most popular holiday
ter for the irrigation of 130,000 ha. The barrage destinations as a result of the attractive natural
at Kisköre has created the largest flatland res- environment and the development of tourism
ervoir in the Carpathian Basin with a surface infrastructure.

Lakes

Lake Balaton is the largest shallow water lake region favourably, from which the orchards and
in Central Europe, and a most important tour- vineyards of the south-facing slopes benefit con-
ist destination of the country, second only to siderably.
Budapest. Since 1918 when Hungary became The shallow Lake Fertő (Neusiedler See)
landlocked, it has often been referred to as the lying in the Austrian-Hungarian borderland is
‘Hungarian Sea’. The 76.5 km long lake with an the second largest lake in the Carpathian Basin
average depth of 3.3 metres has a total surface with an area of 309 km2, nearly a quarter of
area of 588.5 km2, of which only 17 km2 is cov- which belongs to Hungary. The fluctuation in
ered by reeds. The basin of the Balaton is di- the water level is caused mostly by climatic con-
vided into two parts by the Tihany Peninsula. ditions; as a result the lake bed has dried up on
Evaporation from the water surface (900–950 several occasions in the past. 180 km2 out of the
mm/year) exceeds annual precipitation. The lake surface is covered by reeds, primarily in the
primary water supplier is the Zala river, with a Hungarian parts.
catchment of 2,627 km2. The water level is regu- The third largest area of still water in
lated by the only outflow, the Sió. The entire sur- Hungary is Lake Velence. Because of its shallow-
roundings of the lake are canalised and refuse ness and the sunny climate it is one of the warm-
water is drained off the catchment area. Due to est lakes in Europe (with summer temperatures
the shallow nature of the lake, the average wa- of 26–28°C). One third of the small (26.5 km2)
ter temperature during summer is 25°C, which area of the 1.1–2.2 m deep lake is covered by
makes the beaches of Lake Balaton especially reeds. Two reservoirs were constructed in the
attractive. The reflection of strong sunshine from catchment area to regulate its water level. Due to
the water body functions as secondary radia- its close location to Budapest and the motorway,
tion, affecting the microclimate of the Balaton it is a popular tourist destination.

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